First trip to Achanarras quarry, Caithness, Scotland

[James_R_V]

Last weekend I went on my first fossil hunting trip at Achanarras quarry. I spent a 3 days searching there in the hope of finding few of the famous fossil fish that can be found there. Achanarras quarry for anyone who doesn't know it is the most famous Devonian fish fossil sites in Scotland. The rocks there formed at the bottom of tropical lake 385 million years ago and have produced fossils of over 15 different species of mid Devonian fish. 

Anyway, after 3 days of searching I managed to find fossils of 4 species of fish, which is not bad for first trip to a new site. The main species I was after was the primitive lungfish known as Dipterus v and I found quite a few. Most of the Dipterus v. fossils I found were incomplete apart this fossil below. This was the most complete fossil I found.

[James_R_V]

Here one of the incomplete Dipterus fossils.  

[James_R_V]

Another species I found was mesacanthus pusili, which is not as well preserved as the Mesacanthu mitchelli fossils I found at Turin hill, but is still impressive. 

[James_R_V]

The third species I found was Palaeospondylus sp. This fossil has been exposed to elements for quite while because quite a bit of the fossil has worn away. 

[James_R_V]

Here is another species I found called Coccosteus.

[James_R_V]

I need to make a correction. I actually found 5 species of fish. I found part of the head shield and left fin of a Pterichthyodes.

[James_R_V]

[James_R_V]

Here is a photo of the site.

[connorp]

Very nice! I love Paleozoic fish. Thanks for sharing.

[jpc]

cool!

[caldigger]

They might be incomplete, but you did find some and didn't come back empty handed. 

[Wrangellian]

5 hours ago, caldigger said:

They might be incomplete, but you did find some and didn't come back empty handed. 

..and that's all you can say for a lot of fossils and sites, including famous/desirable ones!

 

Enviable opportunity you had. I've got one little Osteolepis from there (I assume all fish fossils from Caithness are from that quarry? My label doesn't say)

[Monica]

Wow - great job!!!  That's a nice number and variety of Devonian fish you've found!!!

 

Are there any fossils there other than fish?  I'm just curious about the palaeoenvironment of that site during the mid Devonian...

[Shamalama]

Wow, what cool fossils! I assume you are splitting the surface rocks and not digging into fresh material?  That is awesome to have a fossil park available like that with what could be considered rare fossils.

[RCFossils]

You did quite well!

I would love to collect there someday.

[Fossildude19]

Great report, photos, and finds!   

Congratulations on a successful trip to a classic locality.   

 

[Ruger9a]

Looks like a very fruitful trip to me.  Congratulations.

[Jeffrey P]

Congratulations on some great finds and thanks for sharing them with us. Caithness has been on my bucket list of places to visit. You're giving me even more reasons to do so.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Nice finds. 

That first fish in particular is very good. 

[James_R_V]

9 hours ago, Monica said:

Wow - great job!!!  That's a nice number and variety of Devonian fish you've found!!!

 

Are there any fossils there other than fish?  I'm just curious about the palaeoenvironment of that site during the mid Devonian...

Yes, there are plant fossils that can found there, which I found few of, but they are not very impressive. There is also a rare species of Arthropod that can be found there called Achanarraspis. When say rare, I mean very rare. I far as a know there has only been one specimen of Achanarraspis found there. This is the only photo I can find of it. It on this website.

https://sjg.lyellcollection.org/content/36/2/151

[ziggycardon]

Thank you for sharing, I love the fossils from that locations! You found some amazing things  

[Carl]

Check THIS out!

http://londonpavementgeology.co.uk/location-details/?id=3925&zoom=13&lat=55.95079009888154&lon=-3.176156359362494&cid=4#prettyPhoto

 

http://londonpavementgeology.co.uk/location-details/?id=2544&zoom=15&lat=55.947380&lon= -3.189318&cid=4#prettyPhoto

 

http://londonpavementgeology.co.uk/location-details/?id=3917&zoom=15&lat=55.938943870831345&lon=-3.1736643086100003&cid=4#prettyPhoto

[James_R_V]

On 12/2/2019 at 5:20 PM, Carl said:

Check THIS out!

http://londonpavementgeology.co.uk/location-details/?id=3925&zoom=13&lat=55.95079009888154&lon=-3.176156359362494&cid=4#prettyPhoto

 

http://londonpavementgeology.co.uk/location-details/?id=2544&zoom=15&lat=55.947380&lon= -3.189318&cid=4#prettyPhoto

 

http://londonpavementgeology.co.uk/location-details/?id=3917&zoom=15&lat=55.938943870831345&lon=-3.1736643086100003&cid=4#prettyPhoto

That's really interesting. Thanks for sharing that. It looks like I will be going to Edinburgh this weekend.

[James_R_V]

On 11/25/2019 at 10:13 AM, Monica said:

Wow - great job!!!  That's a nice number and variety of Devonian fish you've found!!!

 

Are there any fossils there other than fish?  I'm just curious about the palaeoenvironment of that site during the mid Devonian...

If you are interesting in Devonian fossils other than fish, check this out. This is a Enrypterid fossil I found at Aberlemno quarry near Forfar, Scotland. It is an early Devonian site which has produced Eurypterid and armoured fish fossils. The fossil is 410 million years old. The cool thing about the fossil is that it has plant material in the surrounding matix. 

[James_R_V]

On 11/25/2019 at 12:41 PM, Shamalama said:

Wow, what cool fossils! I assume you are splitting the surface rocks and not digging into fresh material?  That is awesome to have a fossil park available like that with what could be considered rare fossils.

Yes, was splitting the surface rocks. It is a site of scientific interest, which means that is illegal to dig into the bedrock. There plenty of surface rocks to split there.